Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too… depending upon weather conditions. Here’s the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui – if it’s working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Trade winds continuing through Friday, then weakening during
the weekend…with a cold front pushing through the state
Saturday night into Sunday

Windward showers, arriving in an off an on manner…with a
few afternoon upcountry showers locally too

Small Craft Wind Advisory…over those windiest coasts and
channel waters around Maui County and the Big Island

High Surf Advisory...north and west shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, and north shores of Maui

The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Monday evening:

Moderately strong trade winds lasting through Friday…then lighter during the weekend. Here’s the latestweather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far to the northeast of the state, with the tail-end of an associated ridge extending southwest…well to the north of Hawaii. At the same time we see a deep storm low pressure system far northwest, with an associated cold front draping down, located far northwest of our islands. Finally, we see a surface trough of low pressure, oriented northwest to southeast near Kauai. ~~~ Our local winds will rebound from the trade wind direction through the rest of this work week. Our Christmas holiday will have moderately strong trade winds blowing. An approaching cold front later Friday into the weekend, will cause our winds to become lighter.

We’ll find some showers at times, generally along the windward sides during the night and early morning hours. Satellite imagery shows hardly any clouds around the islands, although there were still some over the interior sections, which will evaporate during the night. Here’s the looping radar image, showing that there are some showers being carried towards the windward sides of the islands from Oahu down through Maui County to the Big Island…at the time of this writing. A few of these showers may end up being somewhat generous over the eastern side of the state tonight into early Tuesday morning.

We’ll be moving into a fairly typical, early winter trade wind weather pattern now.However, there may be more than the normal amount of passing showers over some of our windward sections tonight…especially on the eastern islands. There’s now a high degree of certainty that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will have favorably inclined weather conditions. Looking further ahead, the models continue showing another cold front approaching the state later Friday into the weekend. The models show this front moving down into the state, bringing its associated showery weather…although nothing too heavy is expected. We have time to access with more detail, what this next cold front will end up doing for us, stay tuned. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: Out with the old and in with the new–light bulbs that is! – As of January 1, 2014, 60 and 40 watt incandescent bulbs will no longer be manufactured or sold in the United States. Retailers will sell out what is on their shelves and not restock incandescents. George W. Bush signed the phase-out, which was called for by The Energy Independence and National Security Act, in 2007. The bill also includes improvements in energy efficiency for lighting and appliances many of which have been in stores for several years.

Consumers will benefit financially. The transition is better environmentally, as well; making it a win, win for all. Incandescent light bulbs presently make up for over half of all bulbs purchased but are inefficient, turning about 90 percent of the energy they consume into heat, not light. 75 and 100 watt incandescent bulbs have been phased out over the last two years.

According to Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency for the Natural Resource Defense Council, the phase out will save Americans $13 billion on their annual energy bills.

Alternatives to the incandescent bulbs include the following:

Philips SlimStyle LED — Currently under consideration for ENERGY STAR certification, the SlimStyle LED bulb reduces energy consumption by 85 percent and lasts 25 times longer than a traditional 60-watt incandescent. It is dimmable, brighter and delivers a softer white light than CFLs. It is safer and lighter weight. The SlimStyle is available exclusively at HomeDepot.com starting January 2, 2014, just in time for the final phase out.

CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) — CFLs were the first alternative to incandescent light bulbs. Now it has been learned that LEDs are better and will last longer, yet the high initial investment puts them out of reach for most people. CFLs are widely available in grocery and convenience stores. They come in a spiral shape and A-line. If broken they can be hazardous to your health and disposal is difficult.

Energy-Efficient Soft White bulbs by GE — If you’re completely devastated by the idea of switching to those newfangled CFLs or LEDs, GE’s Energy-Efficient Soft White bulbs will ease your transition. They look and light exactly like the bulbs you grew up with, only they use 28 percent less energy.

Aloha Glenn,
I am a fan of your weather commentary and forecasting.
I have a question about the looping radar images.
Why is it that Ko’olahwe island is not shown on this radar image?
(Not sure if misspelled Ko’olahwe?)
Curious,
Freida~~~Hi Freida, thanks for enjoying my website! As for your question, which is a good one, I’m not sure why Kahoolawe isn’t on the radar images? I’ll see if I can find out why, and if I can…I’ll email you personally. Happy Holidays! Aloha, Glenn